Today’s Worst Performing Dow Stocks: JPM, HPQ, and BA

Published on Tuesday, 24 November 2009 18:16 Written by Christian Paolinetti

New York, Nov 24 (TradersHuddle.com) - Stocks ended the choppy session with modest losses, as the Fed’s improved outlook and an encouraging housing report tempered a weaker GDP revision. The Weaker GDP number resulted as personal consumption trailed estimates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17.24 points, or 0.16%. The S&P 500 index fell less than 1 point, or 0.05% The NASDAQ slipped 6.83 points, or 0.31%. Market breadth was negative. On the NYSE, losers topped winners by a rate of 6 to 5. On the NASDAQ, decliners outpaced advancers by a rate of 3 to 2.

The market slipped early on after a report from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. GDP grew at a revised rate of 2.8%, lower than the previous 3.5% pace previously estimated. The market paired losses in the afternoon and ended almost flat as the dollar went from mixed to weak and the Fed’s economic forecast attached to the minutes of the last policy meeting showed an improved outlook.

The S&P 500 briefly erased its drop as Fed policy makers predicted unemployment, currently at 10.2%, will range from 9.3 to 9.7% in next year’s fourth quarter. The Fed’s Minutes also showed that the central bank officials believe record-low interest rates may cause “excessive risk-taking” in financial markets.

Financials led the retreat as they fell 0.8% after the FIC said that the U.S. problem banks jumped to 552 banks at the end of the third quarter and that its fund to protect customers in case of bank failings had slipped to a deficit. The biggest decliners on the Dow were JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) down 1.85% to $42.48, Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) retreating 1.65% to $50.19 after reporting a 12% drop in PC sales, and Boeing (NYSE:BA), falling 1.25% to $51.97.